Costing ratepayers billions, smart meters are actually designed to unlawfully
harvest
detailed data of the in-home activities of occupants without their knowledge
or
consent. And there is more; lots more.
Smart utility meters are being deployed worldwide
under the banner of climate action. But they typically increase
energy usage, and a
high-level industry executive has admitted
that the data collected by the surreptitious
devices will be worth "a lot more" than the electricity itself.

Customers are not being informed how their
constitutional rights are being violated
for the purposes of a for-profit home surveillance network. Nor how this
technology
has caused thousands of fires
which have resulted in several deaths. Nor how our
bodies are being affected by pulsed microwave radiation exponentially stronger
than
cell phones, as shown in Take
Back Your Power.

Just like the banking system, the energy system
has likewise become rotten to the core.
To change both will require a complete overhaul and the embrace of a
challenge to
our comfort zone.It is both harrowing
and exciting for one to discover that there are
major societal programs which are simply manufactured lies fueled by the
idea of lack.
That there's not enough energy, food, resources, money. In reality, there is
enough for
all life to survive — and to thrive. It is provable fact that these truths
have been suppressed.

The energy mafia in Nevada just decreed a 40%
fee hike for solar-producing customers,
while reducing the amount paid for excess power sold to the grid,
effectively killing the
solar industry there.There is a war on
energy. When we understand the level of corruption
involved, the implications are enormous. And we must act to solve this
problem.

Do you or a member of your family have…Cancer - Insomnia - Dizziness -
Headaches
High Blood Pressure - Heart Palpations -

Memory
Loss - Lack of Energy - Tinitus (Ringing in Ears)
Lack of Concentration?
Numerous scientific studies from around the world have shown many of these
symptoms may
be caused by RF (microwave) radiation. Smart meters, cell phones, cell sites,
cordless phones,
and baby monitors are a few of the devices that emit RF (microwave) radiation.

Your "SMART METER" is a surveillance
device that monitors your "energy consumption
behavior" and it emits biologically destructive "pulsed" and
"dirty electricity" EMF radiation in
your home, and it is UNLAWFUL because your power company has no easement
(rightful
access) to do that!!

How to beat the utility company at the Smart
Meter game.The SAFE ELECTRIC METER REPLACEMENT KIT
is designed to replace your "Smart Meter"
with an analog meter that is safe and sane and...DOES NOT radiate your home with
"dirty electricity" or pulsed data transmissions.DOES NOT monitor your personal activities.DOES NOT share your personal living habits with the
world!DOES NOT create "dirty
electricity" like a digital meter.DOESinclude
a LEGAL NOTICE FORM to claim and reserve your right to install an analog
meter yourself if they won't do it for you!http://www.freedomtaker.com/

Hey, I personally bought an EMF meter to measure radiation coming off of 4 sets
of power
lines near my son's house to make sure he wasn't being exposed to too much radiation.
We're talking four sets of multiple wires each at ultra high voltage looking at the length
of the insulators. The reading directly under several sets of transmission
lines was up to
16 milligaus, but only a hundred feet away or so it dropped to background of
.1milligaus.
Readings near the house and outbuildings were also background. Driving alongside
the
road where there were three hi tension wires on the poles gave readings up
to 6 milligaus.
But when I got home we had two of our analog meters changed out for digital
smart meters
last year (without our knowledge). Putting the EMF meter up to the face of the
digital smart meter
showed readings up to 113 milligaus. Lowest I got was in the 60's. You had to
get around
twelve feet away before you got back down to .1 - .2 milligaus,
background, both meters.
And I also have had a protective multiple plug strip which the computers and TV
plugged
into go bad in the last three months. Smart meters are now notorious for that
also. They are
also now being blamed on appliances speeding up and slowing down when they
shouldn't be.
My woodstove blower fan does that and it didn't used to with the analog meter. I
changed out
the rheostat but that didn't solve the problem. Looks like the smart meter is
the culprit.

You can shield a smart meter by putting a
lead blanket around it, backside too.
Lead sheet can be purchased at http://www.rotometals.com/product-p/leadsheet8pound.htm
A piece 1/8" thick x 1' x 4' costs $75. You could put a 1'x1' piece
on the backside. a 1' x 2'
piece around the barrel of the meter, and use the other 1' x 1' to fill in
the round part on the
front. The front piece needs to be removable so the meter man can read the
meter. If the
back and front are close to spaces you inhabit, like closer than four feet, I
would double
the lead. 1/4" is probably too stiff to work with except for the front and
the back unless you
had a meter sized piece of pipe or log to fold it around. Having shielded
nuclear reactor
compartments where cobalt 60 hotspots existed in my younger days, lead being
very dense,
was the material of choice to do so with. Enough negative data is now available
on these
smart meters to warrant shielding them.

Here's why

Smart meters have been associated with privacy
issues, data security issues, and fire safety issues, but the biggest danger
from RF (radio frequency) meters may be from the signals they give off while
reporting their data to the central utility office.

A study conducted by the industry group, the
Electric Power Research Institute, concluded that in their tests the radio
frequency emissions of smart meters are well within federal safety guidelines. A
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) study titled, “Summary
Discussion of RF Fields and the PG&E SmartMeter™ System” concluded
that smart meters are “are in full compliance with Federal Communications
Commission regulations by a very wide margin.”

But are they? Many people would disagree.

Joe Esposito from Owasso, Okla., had a smart
meter installed on his home in 2011 as part of a pilot program developed by the
Public Service Company of Oklahoma. Even though he asked that a meter not be
installed on his home, Esposito found one mounted on the side of his house when
he came home from work.

It was then his health problems started. Esposito
started experiencing dental problems, from aching teeth to a constant tingling
sensation. He also started to experience aches in his leg which only got worse
at night.

After watching a video titled “Smart Meters
& EMR: The Health Crisis of Our Time” by Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, Esposito
followed the advice in the video and installed some lead sheeting around the
meter on the outside of his house. The results were dramatic. He had the first
good night’s sleep in months and the pain in his leg was gone. Additional
protection inside the home added later gave relief from many of his other
symptoms. As an experiment, he would sometimes sleep without the protection and
his pains would return.

Joe Esposito’s experience is not unique.
Thousands of people have reported ringing in the ears, insomnia, headaches,
dizziness, nausea, heart irregularities, memory loss, and anxiety after a smart
meter was installed on their house or business.

According to a survey
conducted by Dr. Ed Halteman, Ph.D., the number of people in the survey who had
sleep problems doubled after smart meters were installed.

The survey also indicated that the top health
issues suffered by the 318 residents in the survey who had smart meters
installed on or near the home included sleep problems (49 percent), stress (43
percent), headaches (40 percent), ringing in the ears (38 percent) and heart
problems (26 percent).

In May of 2011, the World Health Organization
officially recognized that wireless radiation such as emitted by smart meters is
a possible carcinogen.

People who also suffer from Electromagnetic
Sensitivity (ES) also seem especially vulnerable to the effects of smart meters.

In recent years, there has been a 60-fold
increase in cases of autism which may be explained by changes in the
environment. A study by the Association for Comprehensive NeuroTherapy reports
that there may be a correlation between fetal (pre-natal) or neo-natal
(new-born) exposures to radiofrequency radiation and the increase in the
incidents of autism.

Another phenomenon reported by smart meter users
was the absence of pollinators in their yards. Residents report the absence of
bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other small insects since the meters were
installed. (Some studies are reporting that RF radiation may be a contributing
factor to Colony Collapse Disorder experienced in beehives.)

While the AAEM acknowledges that studies such as
those conducted by Electric Power Research Institute and PG&E indicate that
the meters are safe, the academy contends that “existing FCC guidelines for RF
safety that have been used to justify installation of ‘smart meters’ only
look at thermal tissue damage and are obsolete, since many modern studies show
metabolic and genomic damage from RF and ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) exposures
below the level of intensity which heats tissues.”

Magda Havas, Ph.D., professor of Environmental
& Resource Studies with Trent University in Ontario, Canada, said, “We are
creating a potential time bomb. If smart meters are placed on every home, they
will contribute significantly to our exposure and this is both unwise and
unsafe.”

Jerry Flynn is a retired Canadian armed forces
captain. While in service, Flynn was in signal intelligence and radio warfare.
Flynn started looking at the potential dangers from smart meters at the request
of his daughter who has three children.

Flynn was immediately concerned about the meters
when he learned that the meters used wireless transmissions. He also learned
that each smart meter has two radio transmitters inside, both transmitters
pulsing microwave radiation which Flynn calls “the most dangerous
[electromagnetic radiation] to the human brain.”

Flynn’s time in the military included a period
of time the Russians experimented on U.S. embassy staff. Flynn said that the
U.S. embassy in Moscow was bombarded with EMF six to eight hours a day five days
a week by the Soviets at power levels that were 1/100 of what the U.S. and
Canada permit now. They experimented with the same microwave frequencies that
come off of standard household wireless appliances.

Between 1953 and 1976, the period of time the
testing took place, two U.S. ambassadors died of cancer, one developed leukemia
and eventually died from it; 16 women on the embassy staff developed breast
cancer, and many others developed immune system disorders, high white blood cell
counts, chronic fatigue, and muscle aches.

Flynn said that the United States knew about the
testing within a year, but didn’t warn the embassy staff. The U.S. sent
researchers over to the embassy with their own monitoring equipment to monitor
the tests for themselves. They wanted to also find out the effect of low-level,
long-term, non-thermal radiation would have on humans. Flynn said it took 10
years for the embassy staff to be told of the testing.

While most of the embassy staff was subjected to
this radiation for a period of two to four years, Flynn points out that the
exposure to radiation from a smart meter will be for the rest of your life.

Surprisingly, there is a second transmitter in a
smart meter, called a “Zigbee.” This is a transmitter that the utility
companies are not talking about now. There are plans for this transmitter to
control up to 15 other “smart appliances” in your home. (Anything with a
motor on it will eventually be a smart appliance that could be your furnace,
refrigerator, dishwasher or “any other thing with a motor.”)

Flynn says these transmitters and smart
appliances will be extremely dangerous, especially when used in addition to all
the other wireless devices used such as cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, baby
monitors, cordless phones – up to 30 devices that emit pulse radiation.

It is interesting to note that Apple advises
its customers, “When carrying iPhone, keep it 1.5 cm (5/8 inch) or more away
from your body to ensure exposure levels remain at or below the maximum
levels.” Lloyds of London refuses
to underwrite cell phone manufacturers against the risk of damage to a
user’s health. (Cell phones and all the above-mentioned wireless devices
operate in the same part of the electromagnetic spectrum as smart meters.)

Non industry-funded studies have clearly
demonstrated a significant increase in cancer cases among individuals who have
suffered from prolonged exposure to low-level microwaves, transmitted notably by
radio antennas. The effects were best documented in meta-analyses that have been
published and that include grouped results from several different studies: these
analyses consistently showed an increased
risk of brain cancer among regular users of a cell phone who have been
exposed to microwaves for
at least ten years.

Brain Cancer
Rates
Furthermore, the argument that brain cancer rates do not indicate an overall
increase in incidence is not evidence that cell phones are safe: the latency for
brain cancer in adults after environmental exposure can be long, up to 20-30
years. Most North Americans haven’t used cell phones extensively for that
long. The evidence of the link between long-term cell phone use and brain cancer
comes primarily from Northern Europe, where cell phones have been commonly used
since the 1990s.

Electrosensitivity
Public fears about wireless smart meters are well-founded. They are backed by
various medical authorities such as those of the Santa
Cruz County(California) Public Health Department. These authorities are
worried about the growing number of citizens who say they have developed electrohypersensitivity
(EHS), especially since for many of them, the symptoms developed after the
installation of such meters (it takes some time for most people to link the two
events).

Therefore, caution is
warranted because the growing variety of RF/microwave emissions produced by many
wireless devices such as smart meters have never been tested for their potential
biological
effects.

Well-known
bioeffects
While the specific pathways to cancer are not fully understood, it is
scientifically unacceptable to deny the weight of the evidence regarding the
increase in cancer cases in humans that are exposed to high levels of RF/microwave
radiation.

The statement that
« there is no established mechanism by which a radio wave could induce an
adverse effect on human tissue other than by heating » is incorrect, and
reflects a lack of awareness and understanding of the scientific literature on
the subject. In fact, more
than a thousand studies done on low intensity, high frequency, non-ionizing
radiation, going back at least fifty years, show that some biological
mechanisms of effect do not involve heat. This radiation sends signals to
living tissue that stimulate biochemical changes, which can generate various
symptoms and may lead to diseases such as cancer.

Even though RF/microwaves don’t have the energy
to directly break chemical bonds, unlike ionizing radiation such as X-rays,
there is scientific evidence that this energy can cause DNA damage indirectly
leading to cancer by a combination of biological
effects. Recent
publications have documented the generation of free radicals, increased
permeability of the blood brain barrier allowing potentially toxic
chemicals to enter the brain, induction of genes, as well as altered
electrical and metabolic activity in human brains upon application of cell phone
RF/microwaves similar to those produced by smart meters.

These effects are
cumulative and depend on many factors including RF/microwave levels, frequency,
waveform, exposure time, biovariability between individuals and combination with
other toxic agents. Clear evidence that these microwaves are indeed bioactive
has been shown by the fact that low-intensity EMFs have proven clinically useful
in some circumstances. Pulsed EMFs have long been used to successfully treat
bone fractures that are resistant to other forms of therapy. More recently,
frequency-specific, amplitude-modulated EMFs have been found useful to treat advanced
carcinoma and chronic pain.

High frequency EMFs
such as the microwaves used in cell phones, smart meters, Wi-Fi and cordless
‘‘DECT’’ phones, appear to be the most damaging when used commonly. Most
of their biological effects, including symptoms of electrohypersensitivity,
can be seen in the damage done to cellular membranes by the loss
of structurally-important calcium ions. Prolonged exposure to these high
frequencies may eventually lead to cellular malfunction and death.

Early warning
scientists attacked
In recommending that the Precautionary Principle be applied in EMF matters, the
European Environment Agency’s Director Jacqueline
McGlade wrote in 2009: “We have noted from previous health hazard
histories such as that of lead in petrol, and methyl mercury, that ‘early
warning’ scientists frequently suffer from discrimination, from loss of
research funds, and from unduly personal attacks on their scientific integrity.
It would be surprising if this is not already a feature of the present EMF
controversy… » Such unfortunate consequences have indeed occurred.

The statement in the Le
Devoir letter that « if we consider that a debate should take place,
it should focus exclusively on the effects of cell phones on health » is
basically an acknowledgement that there is at least some reason to be concerned
about cell phones. However, while the immediate exposure from a cell phone is of
much greater intensity than the exposure from smart meters, cell phone use is
temporary.

Smart meters
Wireless smart meters typically produce atypical, relatively potent and very
short pulsed RF/microwaves whose biological effects have never been fully
tested. They emit these millisecond-long RF bursts on average 9,600 times a day
with a maximum of 190,000 daily transmissions and a peak level emission two and
a half times higher than the stated safety signal, as the California utility Pacific
Gas & Electric recognized before that State’s Public Utilities
Commission. Thus people in proximity to a smart meter are at risk of
significantly greater aggregate exposure than with a cell phone, not to mention
the cumulative levels of RF/microwaves that people living near several meters
are exposed to.

People are exposed to
cell phone microwaves primarily in the head and neck, and only when they use
their device. With smart meters, the entire body is exposed to the microwaves,
which increases the risk of overexposure to many organs.

In addition to these
erratic bursts of modulated microwaves coming from smart meters that are
transferring usage data to electric, gas and water utilities, wireless and wired
smart (powerline communication) meters are also a major
source of ‘’dirty electricity’’ (electrical interference of high
frequency voltage transients typically of kilohertz frequencies). Indeed, some
scientists, such as American
epidemiologist Sam Milham, believe that many of the health complaints about
smart meters may also be caused by dirty electricity generated by the «
switching » power supply activating all smart meters. Since the installation
of filters to reduce dirty electricity circulating on house wiring has
been found to relieve symptoms of EHS in some people, this method should be
considered among the priorities aimed at reducing potential adverse impacts. Indeed,
the Salzburg State (Austria) Public Health Department confirms its concern about
the potential public health risk when in coming years almost every electric
wire and device will emit such transient electric fields in the kilohertz-range
due to wired smart meters.

Rather be
safe than sorry
The apparent adverse health
effects noted with smart meter exposure are likely to be further exacerbated
if smart appliances that use wireless communications become the norm and further
increase unwarranted exposure.

To date, there have
been few independent studies of the health effects of such sources of more
continuous but lower intensity microwaves. However, we know after decades of
studies of hazardous chemical substances, that chronic exposure to low
concentrations of microwaves can cause equal or even greater harm than an acute
exposure to high concentrations of the same microwaves.

Once a week I check
with bated breath my conventional meter attached to the side of my house. I want
to make sure no smart meter had been installed in my absence and without my
permission. I have written to my utility company that I do not wish to have a
smart meter installed, I mailed the letter return receipt requested to make sure
that they cannot claim non-receipt.

I called the utility
office and again, voiced my desire to keep my conventional meter. I received a
form letter, telling me that there are no plans yet, smart meters are safe, and
there is no opt out, please check the website, etc. I posted a large sign by my
conventional meter that they do not have my permission to install a smart meter.
When the meter is read, the sign disappears or I find it in the grass. I gave up
replacing it. I seem to fight the monopolistic goliath who is the only provider
of power.

More and more people
who had been harmed by electromagnetic pulses are taking action against their
utility company across the nation. Texans Against Smart Meters are considering a
class action lawsuit in reference to Fourth
Amendment rights violation and health issues commenced or exacerbated by the
installation of the Advance Metering System, better known as smart meters.

Smart meter removal
from one’s home is not enough. Within a five square mile area there is a
collecting point of information from all meters and a transmitter receives
information from all the collecting points within 125 miles of its location.
This transmitter sends all the collected data to a master location, the
“mother ship” where everyone’s information is stored, analyzed, and sold
to a third party who is interested in the household’s pattern of usage,
consumption of electricity, or possibly “illegal” activity in that home.

During peak usage,
the utility company can turn off the power, adjust the thermostat from afar, or
turn off entire grid in an “emergency” such as the catastrophic failure of
power during the 2012 D.C/Maryland/Virginia straight line winds.

Cyber-attacks and
solar flares can also take down an entire section of the smart grid with its
smart meters. A person, who wishes to know when the homeowner is at work or on
vacation in order to rob the place, can steal the streaming data from the smart
meter (which pulses information several times a minute) by standing outside the
home with a handheld device.

I have listed issues
and negative health
effects from smart meters in my previous articles. Links to four of my
columns are found at the end of this article.

Abstracts
of articles describe the link of low-level microwave
radiation and other frequency ranges of radiation
exposure to the development of tumors, to DNA (genotoxicity), to production
of stress proteins, to heart disturbances, to general brain effects, to blood
brain barrier and nerve effects, to immune reactions, and to general functional
impairment.

De-Kun Li, senior
researcher at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA, has
shown that EMF exposure in the womb is linked to increased risk in childhood
obesity.

In Hawaii, an
electrical contractor in Kauai “recorded a smart meter pulse at a business
with emissions more than 1300% than KIUC’s claim.” Josh de Sol said,
“emissions over a 24 hour period, amount to 3.2 hours of exposure to modulated
microwave frequency radiation at over 2 milliwatts per square meter which is 240
times greater than what the utility company claims.”

The Maine Supreme
Judicial Court has ruled on July 12, 2012 that Maine Public Utilities Commission
has failed to resolve health and safety issues resulting from the installation
of smart meters by Central Maine Power Co. According
to Josh Del Sol, opponents to smart meters “argued that utility regulators
ignored their legal mandate to ensure the delivery of safe and reasonable
utility services.” Sadly, the $200 million project, which replaced 615,000
analog meters with smart meters, is complete. Federal stimulus money provided
half the cost. The court’s decision appears ineffectual since the smart meters
are already installed.

Josh Del Sol,
producer and director of the movie, Take Back Your Power, writes
that “PECO suspended installations of smart meters after local fire officials
in Philadelphia attributed them to the cause of several recent home fires.”

To make matters
worse, it was discovered that smart meters lack UL and CSA approval and safety
testing. “UL has developed a standardized set of safety requirements for
utility meters, including smart meters. Even though there are standards, and UL
says utilities need to ensure testing, no utility to date (that we know of) has
been able to provide evidence of any UL or CSA certification, or accredited
safety testing.” (Josh del Sol)

UL, according to
their website, is a global independent safety science company offering expertise
across five areas: product safety, environment, life and health, verification
services, and knowledge services.

CSA is a global
provider of product testing and certification services for US, Canada and
countries worldwide for many products and components.

People should be
gravely concerned that utilities have installed and are installing at a rapid
pace the untested, unapproved device called smart meter which controls all
electrical usage, causes fires, and serious health
effects. On my recent trip to Europe, I photographed banks of smart meters
everywhere, installed with European
Union funds.

Josh del Sol
described the interview with John Horgan, New Democrat Party Energy Critic in
British Columbia. Del Sol asked him why British Columbia Hydro is installing
unapproved devices. His answer was, “I don’t know… I don’t know. It’s
mind-numbing, isn’t it?”

We do know why
utilities are installing smart meters in the U.S. – it is a convenient way to
control our energy use and thus our independence by using the ruse of
convenience, modernization, cheaper energy, expedience, and better service.
Nothing can be further from the truth. Smart meters are convenient ways to spy
on the populace, charge them more per kilowatt hour of consumption, reduce
consumption by cutting power delivery, control the population and its health,
reduce costs for utilities who no longer have to worry about storage capacity
and building additional storage plants which are expensive, reducing costs of
wire maintenance under and above ground, and eliminating meter readers for
conventional meters.

There's
more For all you that don*t believe
proof is in the blood! wake up . Another reason to get your smart meter off or
get products so you can stay alive so these things don*t kill you .! forward
this to everyone you know .

PICTURE
SMART METER versus regular dial type analog meter

If the meter on
your home looks like the one on the left, you*re in serious danger of blood brain barrier
leakage, leukemia, other cancers, severe insomnia, and many other diseases.
The links below explain how, why, and what you can do about it:

Neurosurgeon
Shows How Low Levels of Radiation Such As Wi-Fi, Smart Meters And Cell Phones
Cause The Blood Brain Barrier To Leak

Former President of Microsoft Canada, Mr. Frank Clegg, isn*t
EHS (ElectroHyperSensitive) but his wife does suffer from EHS.

It is for this reason that Mr Clegg founded Citizens
for Safe Technology http://www.c4st.org/to inform people about the dangers of wireless technologies. He is
working hard to convince the Canadian Government to make the 6 security code
more strict. Mathematician ingenious and altruistic, he worked with the blind
Canadian society to create computer programs making their life easier. He also
created for police programs to help prevent and stop sexual predators and
exploitation and abuse of children.

The chryptochrome protein controls the body*s production of
MELATONIN, the anti-aging hormone in charge of the brain*s creativity:

Peter Hore, Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University,
Professor Denis Henshaw of Bristol University, and Thorsten Ritz, Professor of
Physics and Astronomy at University of California, and their global
colleagues, talk about Chryptochromes, which show that all
life has a magnetic sense, making us vulnerable to man-made frequencies.

Chryptochromes are protein cells (discovered in France
in 1990's) that are in all humans, animals, insects, and birds. They
are generated (produced) by our genes (by our chryogenes, in particular) and
they detect and absorb new light to regulate growth, they control our
circadian rhythm, including melatonin production.

**[A] repeated insult or irritation to a
particular biological area, such as a small region of the brain, can lead to
irreparable damage. [G]iven the existence of energy absorption **hot spots** .
. . each damaging exposure to radiofrequency radiation provides a new
opportunity that the damage will become permanent."

**[W]e can expect that no warning of brain tissue
destruction would be provided to a cellular telephone user until the damage
was so extensive that the scalp, which absorbs very little energy, sensed
heating.**

**Every action which occurs within that
individual*s life during that next week will be affected by the EEG
modifications resulting from the portable cellular telephone call.**
"[E]arlier, researchers have consistently reported that transmitting
antennas could not be operated close to the human body—the human
head-without violating the safe exposure limits.**

**[T]he shape of the skull, thickness of sub-cutaneous
fat, muscle layering, and how an individual holds a portable cellular
telephone each contributes to make the energy absorption different from one
individual to another. The important common factor, however, is that all
individuals will absorb a large portion of the radiation.**

**Today we know that even a single
exposure to low level radiofrequency radiation causes damage to the DNA makeup
of brain cells.**

When there's a way to do things cheaper and
boost profits, you can count on industry to discover how. And so, it's no
surprise that the utility companies have figured out a way to spare the cost
of sending energy meter readers out to customer's homes every month. Instead,
they're cutting expenses (and jobs) by relying on devices called "smart
meters." These energy meters track power usage in your home in real time
and then send a detailed report directly to the power company via wireless
technology. The utility company then uses the information to bill you.

At first take, it sounds like a good idea, eliminating those pesky visits from
the electric company. One could argue that smart meters are "green"
since they eliminate the need to have company reps drive from house to house.
In fact, utility companies rave about the green benefits of smart meters. They
allow the companies to track and manage energy flows more efficiently,
establishing a so-called "green grid" across large areas. They also
make it possible to identify outages quickly and efficiently. Plus, the meters
let customers carefully track their own energy consumption so they can figure
out where to cut back.

Within the next three years, smart meters will be installed in 65 million
homes--half the homes in the US. But not everybody is happy about this. In
fact, a number of lawsuits have been filed charging the utility companies with
various violations related to smart meters. Opponents say that the meters not
only compromise privacy and raise expenses for consumers, but they also pose a
dangerous health hazard.

At issue is the fact that smart meters rely on wireless technology, and some
say this isn't safe given the volume of radio frequency waves the meters emit.
Critics claim that smart meters literally fry consumers in their own homes;
advocates say such complaints are rubbish. They claim that smart meters put
out only a miniscule amount of electromagnetic energy, and anyway, it's a
harmless technology. It's not easy to separate the truth from the PR.

For instance, the benign-seeming Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative, a
nonprofit which claims on its website to be dedicated to providing
"long-lasting sustainable benefits to consumers" writes, "You
would have to be exposed to the radio frequency from a smart meter for 375
years to get a dose equivalent to that of one year of 15-minutes-per-day cell
phone use." The group asserts that smart meters emit lower levels of
radio frequency than cell phones, baby monitors, satellite televisions, and
microwaves. This might be reassuring, except for the fact that on closer
inspection, it turns out that the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative has a
dazzling array of utility company representatives on its board, rendering its
pronouncements a bit suspect.

Opponents say that, in fact, smart meters emit far more radiation than cell
phones do--hundreds of times more. The Center for Electrosmog Prevention, a
California nonprofit, claims that one smart meter emits radiation equivalent
to what you'd get from 160 cell phones. The group bases its figures on
independent research led by radiation expert Dr. Daniel Hirsh of the
University of California San Diego. Dr. Hirsh contends that the utility
companies have essentially done some fancy (and faulty) math to arrive at the
low emissions figures they tout.

And he's not alone in his critique. Other independent studies have measured
pulses from smart meters up to 1000 times greater than what the typical cell
phone puts out. The experts express concern not only about the strength of the
signals emanating from smart meters, but also, about the frequency of pulses.
They say there's a notable discrepancy between what industry claims and what
independent observers report. While the utility companies say the meters pulse
at most once an hour, independent analyses show they can pulse as often as
every 30 seconds, blasting out electromagnetic waves each time.

No matter whether the meters emit more or less EMF pollution than cell phones,
the real question is how they affect health. Few studies have been done to
specifically assess the impact of smart meters over time on human health, so
the experts have been relying on cell phone studies, since the technology is
similar. As we've reported in the past, there's plenty of independent research
raising alarms about the link between cell phones, brain alteration, and
cancer, but there's also plenty of controversy about those results. The
establishment chooses to ignore the incriminating research, instead citing
industry-funded studies that conclude cell phones are quite safe. In any case,
remember that cell phones are held directly against your head; smart meters
are not.

Meanwhile, consumer complaints about the smart meters mount. Remember,
evidence indicates that smart meters expose you to far more EMFs than cell
phones do -- although not focused on one part of your body. Nevertheless,
there have been numerous reports from consumers suffering from severe
headaches, seizures, insomnia, dizziness, palpitations, joint pain, migraines,
and tinnitus after extended smart meter exposure. There may be no actual
connection, but then again. Meanwhile, the American Academy of Environmental
Medicine issued a recommendation in July that "that no Smart Meters be
[in the homes of patients with neurological or neurodegenerative diseases,
genetic defects, cancer, and other conditions] and that Smart Meters be
removed to a reasonable distance from patients' homes..."

While some states allow consumers to opt out and retain their old meters
instead of having a new smart meter installed, others do not. And as mentioned
above, the complaints about smart meters extend beyond the realm of health.
Some consumers fear that utility companies will use the technology to track
electronic activity in private households. Because smart meters provide such
detailed information, your energy company could, for instance, determine your
television viewing choices and patterns, or track your internet usage. Again,
there have already been a spate of lawsuits against utility companies charging
privacy violations related to smart meters.

No matter how extensive the list of concerns is, smart meters are here to stay
for the time being, anyway. As an informed consumer, you should find out if
you can opt out when the installation team arrives at your door, in case you
wish to exercise that option. Even if the exposure risk is minimal, why risk
any exposure at all if you don't have to? Then again, you can always wear tin
foil over your head -- just kidding -- or put the foil over the meter, which
is actually a viable option.